The Philippines saw a 42-percent surge in the daily average of new Covid-19 cases from April 24 to 30, according to the Department of Health’s case bulletin released on Tuesday.
The bulletin reported 637 new infections, higher than the 450 cases reported from April 17 to 23.
The new infections brought the country’s active case tally to 7,037.
The increase in Covid-19 cases has been attributed to the new Omicron subvariant XBB.1.16, also known as Arcturus.
Over the last week of April, the country recorded 4,456 new cases, up from the 3,148 cases reported the previous week.
The number of severe and critical cases also rose from 345 to 351 during the same period.
Meanwhile, ICU bed utilization is at 15 percent (303 out of 2,021), while 18.1 percent (3,163 out of 17,480) of non-ICU beds are currently occupied.
More than 79.1 million Filipinos have completed their Covid-19 vaccinations. Some 24.1 million Filipinos have received booster doses.
The country has recorded over 4.08 million Covid-19 cases and more than 66,444 deaths since the pandemic began in January 2020. John Ezekiel J. Hirro